How to have your cake and eat it Or A guide to guilt-free baking and eating

Mini strawberry and cream sponge cakes

A post dedicated to all those who have a sweet tooth and love to have their cake and eat it too literally:)

Ever since I can remember I've had a sweet tooth. I've always loved cakes and biscuits, tarts and pies, and pastries of all kinds. So much so that my mom, who actually made me into a baked goods addict and lover with her delicious home baking, had to portion out whatever she was baking to make sure my younger brother would get his share before I gobbled everything up:) 

One of my favourite childhood memories is my birthday and not because of the presents, but because I always had cake for breakfast! And every time it was a different cake and I have so many favourites!

 

As I was growing up my passion for eating desserts turned into a passion for baking. I was obsessed with trying new recipes and that meant eating a lot of baked goods as I needed to test more and more new recipes. And this is where it turned into a problem. Not only because I developed an addiction (I couldn't drink tea by itself, I had to have something sweet with it), but also because it was causing some health issues. I had to rethink my diet, my attitude to desserts and baked goods, and it felt so bad not to be able to do what I loved most - bake as much as I wanted to. Exercising will power and trying "healthy desserts" didn't always work, but over the years I've come to terms with the situation and have developed a few useful tips and tricks to bake and enjoy desserts responsibly. I will be happy if you find my experience and advice helpful. 

1. Always reduce sugar in your baking. Normally recipes have excessive amounts of sugar, so if you use about half the sugar to the amount of flour (just divide the amount of flour in the recipe by two, e.g. if the recipe needs 200g flour, use 100g sugar), it is a good ratio and you will be happy with the result. Your bake will be sweet enough, but not overly sweet. And if you are adding some sweet ingredients like bananas or sweet fruit/berries, you can reduce sugar even more. Over time your taste buds will adjust and you will need even less sugar in your desserts (e.g. now even 1/3 or 1/4 sugar to flour ratio works for me!)

2. Share or Freeze the leftovers. If you are baking a big batch of cookies or a big cake, make sure to share it with your friends, colleagues, neighbours or freeze them. Baked goods freeze well and this will stop you from reaching for a biscuit and popping it in your mouth any time you want - you'll have to do some planning. If you want to eat the dessert that has been frozen, you'll have to defrost it in the fridge overnight first. Alternatively you could defrost some types of desserts in the oven, but it also takes time and planning, which is a good thing when you are fighting an addiction. 

Some types of desserts can be frozen before baking (cookies, muffins, pie crust) and then you can just take out and bake a few biscuits at a time. 

3. Make smaller portions/batches. Very often recipes in magazines, cooking shows and on the internet are family size, so if you are baking just for yourself, or for a small family of two, halve or even quarter the ingredients in the recipe. See the cakes in the picture? Instead of making a big cake for my husband's birthday, I made 2 mini-cakes just with 1 egg and 30 grams of flour! We had them for breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed them:) Sometimes when I am trying to halve or quarter the ingredients for a dessert, I even use 1/2 egg and make a tiny omelet with the the leftover half:) It might sound crazy, but really, give it a try, it works! Now I find that most of the time when I have a craving for my favourite dessert, all I want is just a slice of cake or a couple of biscuits, I don't want to have a big cake or a box of cookies sitting on my table tempting me. 

4. Use healthier substitutes - dried fruit, dark chocolate, cocoa nibs, peanut butter, bananas, etc. instead of baked desserts to satisfy your sugar cravings. Of course portion control is very important here too, as dried fruit, some chocolate and bananas are also full of sugar, but since these are whole foods and not the simple carbs like refined sugar and flour, they are a healthier option, just make sure not to eat too much. 

For example, if you combine dried fruit (prunes, dried figs, raisins, dried cranberries) with nuts you will feel full sooner and will not eat as much sweet dried fruit. 

Choose good quality dark chocolate - read the ingredients and do not buy chocolate with palm oil - it's not real chocolate. The only fat that should be used in chocolate is cocoa butter. Also compare different bars of chocolate for the amount of sugar. For me 24 g sugar per 100g is a good amount. And if you're really not a fan of dark chocolate as I used to be, train your palate gradually - start with 50-60% cocoa, them move to 70-80% and I am sure you will find "your" chocolate. 

Cocoa nibs are a magic product - they are roughly crushed cocoa beans - 100% natural and unsweetened with intense chocolate flavour and a nutty texture. They will totally satisfy your craving for chocolate with zero sugar! I just nibble on them on their own or have them with tea.

If you are a fan of peanut butter, a teaspoon of peanut butter by itself or on a slice of banana will surely satisfy your sweet cravings and will be a perfect accompaniment for tea (or coffee). Make sure you buy good quality peanut butter too! The only ingredient that should be on the packaging is 100% peanuts - no sugar, no palm oil, nothing else.

5. Gradually reduce your intake of sugar and you will notice that your taste buds adjust. Now I can't imagine how I used to put 4 teaspoons of sugar in my cup of tea or coffee! I gradually reduced the amount of sugar overtime (first 3 teaspoons, then 2, then 1) and now I don't take any sugar in my drinks!

This will also affect your sweet tooth and very often you will not want a dessert that is too sweet or you will eat one biscuit instead of two. 

6. Eat naturally healthy desserts. What I mean is instead of an apple pie, have some delicious baked apples, stuffed with some dried fruit and nuts, sprinkled with cinnamon (no sugar!) and served with a dollop of yoghurt! Mmm, my mouth is watering even writing about it:) Or a fruit salad, or just a piece of fruit. 

7. Don't bake/buy desserts too often. Baking once a week, for example, at the weekend is a good strategy. It is easy to implement as our work week is usually too busy to bake anyway, but treat yourself and your family to a batch of homemade buns/cookies or a cake at the weekend. See it as a treat for being a good girl/boy during the week, but be careful not to stuff your face over the weekend - enjoy your desserts responsibly (see tips number 1, 2, 3).

8. Use natural flavour enhancers that suppress your craving for sugar - spices, especially cinnamon have this magic effect. For example, a sprinkle of cinnamon and a sliced banana provide all the necessary sweetness to a nice bowl of oatmeal in the morning and if you are baking a spiced cake or a cookie, you won't need as much sugar and they will taste amazing. 

Well these are some of the tip and tricks that helped me to reduce my addiction to sugar and baked goods without going cold turkey. I can still enjoy my desserts and not feel guilty about it.